Piece It Together
by Suspense Master
Summary: She returned from being gone for so long. She's different, not like she used to be. All of Equestria wonders what happened to her, and wonders if they can help her become whole.


Celestia's castle. Canterlot. This was where Twilight and her friends were, as were Princess Luna and her sister. Twilight and her friends were at the castle—all of them hard at work—as the bright light shone brighter and brighter. This light was apparently from a spell book that Twilight had (a way to bring Rainbow Dash back from where she had gone) and it needed all of her friends plus Princess Celestia and her sister in order for it to work. Celestia was amazed that she was able to have something like that in her library, and asked her student why she would want to use such a powerful teleportation spell; she said it was because she wanted—as did all of them—to see her friend again. Celestia nodded. Her student's admiration to see her friend's return was something she couldn't say no to.

As each of them watched the spell work and the white ball of energy from their Elements, as well as the Princesses magic, formed, it materialized into a shape into the air of a pony. Each of them could feel their hearts stop momentarily as the glow slowly faded away and a form crashed to the carpet on the floor. Each of them saw the pony-shaped figure wearing a suit they had never seen before as well as two weapons they had never seen before. They didn't look anything Equestrian-made.

The room was silent for a good two minutes then the figure groaned in a robotic voice. The helmet slid off automatically, showing a face that caused their hearts to beat rapidly from the sudden realization of who this pony was…

She was Rainbow Dash!

Wait… If she was Rainbow Dash, why did she look so different? The Pegasus they remembered had a multicolored mane, but this one had a greying mane that was short instead of long. Another thing was that she seemed to look older…but how _much _older? As each of them gazed at her, Twilight gazed at the two weapons she had (plus the little robot) and wondered about them: how did they work, what did they do, how powerful were they? The purple unicorn had these entire questions going around in her head like a maelstrom and she wanted to get some answers just like the others.

Nopony said anything as the pony that everypony though would be Rainbow Dash got up, but in a way they didn't expect—she got up and stood on her hind legs in a bipedal stance. She was balancing herself with no problems whatsoever. The pony who resembled Rainbow Dash groaned in pain, her vision hazy. She shook her head to clear it, and then recoiled in fright when she saw Necromorphs in front of her. To them, however, they saw her pointing one of her weapons at them, its blue laser targeted at them.

"Why can't you stay dead?" she screamed at them and fired a blast from her custom-made weapon and it nearly took off Applejack's head down the center if not for Twilight pushing her friend aside with her magic and then making the once-cyan mare float into the air while she flailed around like a fish out of water, screaming about something about a Moon and some strange creatures called Necromorphs, something they had no idea what they were.

Both Princesses could only watch in horror at what the Element of Loyalty had become after being gone for so long, the same thought was going on in Rainbow Dash's friends' minds. She had a look of insanity. She screamed at them, saying she was going to kill them all for everything they did when she got free, and hearing those words her friends all felt their hearts sink at how murderous she had become. Celestia looked at her faithful student and saw she was losing her concentration on Rainbow Dash. She had something that would, hopefully, help them out in their situation. "I should be able to calm Rainbow Dash down," Princess Celestia said as she went up to the wild Pegasus, and a small golden beam fired from her horn into Rainbow Dash's face.

Inside her mind, the red background dissipated and the Necromorphs began to change, becoming something with four legs while two of them were different: one was white and big with wings, another was the same but blue with wings and horn, as well. Each of them saw the mare's face calm and her expression soften. Rainbow looked at them from above in Twilight's magical encasement. Her eyes were hazy. She shook herself to clear her vision. "What…where…where's the ship…?" She looked around and took in her surroundings and saw the ponies she thought she didn't thought she'd ever see again.

"What? How am I back?" She saw the princess. "Princess Celestia, how did I get back to Equestria?"

"You can think my faithful student Twilight for that, Rainbow Dash. She found a spell that was able to bring you back," she glared at her, "but why would you try and harm us with that thing you carry with you?"

Rainbow Dash looked down at her weapon, then back at the Princess, a look of regret on her face before she put her weapon away. Her friends saw the look on her face and it wasn't anything like they were known. For Twilight, she knew something was different about the cyan mare—something that was clearly scarring her on the inside when she was in that other dimension. The suit that she wore, she knew that it was something for colder climates like in the Northern Equestrian Mountains. Everything else about her suit was so unreal that she couldn't describe it. If she was in that other place for so long, then their technology must've been impressive!

"I apologize for that, Princess," Rainbow Dash said, her voice low and serious.

"RD, where in Equestria have been all this time?" Applejack asked.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Please Rainbow Dash, we are worried about you and want to know why you lashed out at us when we did nothing wrong."

"I said I don't want to talk about it!"

All of them felt their blood go cold at her outburst. Rainbow Dash sighed and said 'I need to be alone, don't follow me' and went out through the castle to Canterlot. When the audible sound of the doors closed shut, each of them stood in silence at what had transpired in the throne room. Twilight, on the other hand, couldn't take her eyes off of that armor she was wearing nor the weapons she was holding. Those things were nothing she had ever seen, and the blue neon tube running down her back…

While Rainbow Dash left, Twilight couldn't take her mind off of her friend… for two reasons. One, she was worried about her, and two, she wanted to know about that suit and those weapons she was carrying. _Such fascinating equipment…_

* * *

Canterlot wasn't any different when Rainbow Dash had disappeared, though she was the talk of the town, it didn't matter to her—she just ignored it. The way she looked now—and the way she walked—wasn't anything new to her in the city, just like when she first arrived on Earth and began to coexist with the humans. She mentally chuckled to herself. If Lyra found out she was lived with the humans for years she would be jealous of her, and then she wouldn't stop pestering her about them. That pony had a strange fascination with them but she was funny all the same.

Looking around the city center she didn't find anything in particular that was fascinating to her. It all looked the same. The city hadn't changed, and she probably guessed it was the same for pretty much all of Equestria. When you were dealing with dimensional travel, time passes differently between the world you were once in and the world you were now in. Coming and adapting to Earth had been difficult, but she had taken a liking to it; though when it came to change careers…that was challenging. She didn't know she was going to be an engineer (since she always told herself she wasn't into that "egghead stuff). But with living in this new world she had to do something that would help her survive, so she studied on engineering and became something she didn't know she was going to be. To her, it was like wanting to be something that she sought so hard for, but never made it.

With being an engineer, it was something refreshing to her, albeit she was more used to doing work with sky, but it was in space so there was nothing for her. Plus, without an EVA suit she would suffocate.

Looking around, she saw an empty table and took a seat at it, placing her weapons on top. Alone she sat, many of the people looking at her crafted weapons with both fear and fascination, wondering how they worked. _Just pretend you don't see me, everybody,_ she thought to herself before coming to shock about her mistake. Since she lived on Earth, and on the Colony, she was taught to say _body_ instead of _pony _when using that word, but now that she was back home—to her original home—she could start saying everypony like she used to back then.

Even though she was back home, she was worried about Earth. What would it do if she wasn't there to stop the Moons? More importantly, what about Mark?

_Mark, I hope that you and Carver are going to be okay without me there,_ she thought to herself as she continued to stare at the table she was at. A shadow over-casted hers and she looked up, seeing it was a waiter. "Excuse me, Miss. Might I get you anything to drink or eat?"

Dash stayed silent, before her stomach spoke for her. "Sorry. Yes I would like a sandwich."

"Any specific kind?"

"Just whatever you think is best."

"Yes ma'am."

He left in a hurry, and Dash watched him leave, noting how fast he was walking. Maybe it was her weapon on the table. She had her other one with her but didn't want to put it on top too, because there wouldn't be any room for her food, so she just held onto it. As she waited and looked around, she saw many of the Canterlot ponies giving her weird looks. It was just like with Twilight and the way she was looking at her suit. She thought back to when she investigated the Reaper barracks for their weapons—and found the logs of the one called the "The Reaper"—it made her think of herself when was wanting to join the Wonderbolts, and they constantly denied her a spot with them.

She thought more about and knew that they were in the past for her. It took her a while to figure out that the accomplishments she did in Equestria—defeating Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and saving the Crystal Empire—made her _finally_ realize that she didn't need to be in the Wonderbolts to prove her worth; what she did herself with her friends proof enough. Maybe the Wondetbolts would be jealous of her if she told about what she did during her absence. "Maybe it's best if I don't tell them. They probably wouldn't believe me anyway."

A few minutes passed and there was a voice, a plate set in front of her. "Your food, miss."

Dash shook herself free of her shock before looking at the stallion. "Thank you."

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No. Thank you."

He nodded and left, and she ate into her sandwich with slow bites, savoring the taste. As she ate, her mind continued back to how she wanted to tell her friends the truth about what she had been going, but knew she couldn't since ponies in Equestria weren't able to stand the intense and disturbing events she had to go through. If ponies saw the blood and death, many of them wouldn't be able to sleep… not even the little ones. She looked down at her food and felt a nausea looking at it. Her stomach continued to growl. Slowly, she picked up the sandwich and began to eat; making sure her mind was blank of anything that would make her vomit.

When she was finished with her sandwich she decided to see if she could do some sightseeing around Canterlot. Seeing its lavish style made her think about the New Lunar Horizon's Colony she and Mark lived at when she went into hiding; though it wasn't nothing like Canterlot or Las Pegasus. The apartments were good living spaces, but being back in where she was supposed to be, she wouldn't mind a trip to Las Pegasus or staying in Canterlot for a few days. The only bad thing about was that she didn't have any kind way to pay for it.

And she didn't think that she could pay in resources from her expedition of Tau Volantis. "At least I'm just happy to be home," she said to herself and only left some of her sandwich left before leaving it the way it was on the table and grabbed her gun. Walking through Canterlot she noted a lot of the stares she was getting—particularly the way she walked and not just her equipment and weapons. Many of the foals stared at her and asked their parents if they could go talk to her.

Rainbow Dash didn't want to say anything to them; she just wanted to be alone. Peace and quiet. As she walked, she heard a voice behind her. "Dashie! Dashie, wait up."

She looked over and saw her friends heading for her. She sighed as they came up to her and she said, "Look girls, I don't feel good right now. I just want some time alone."

"Please Rainbow," Twilight said, "we just want to know what happened to you all the time you were gone."

"I already said I don't want to talk about, Twilight! Why can't any of you understand that?"

"We just want to know. Is that a crime?" Rarity asked.

"As a matter of fact it is. What I've been through, what's in my head would be too much for anypony to handle, period! If I let any of you look inside—you guys, or the Princesses—then I know that they won't be able to sleep and they're going to be like everyone on the places I've been…and then I know what's going to happen. I'm going to end up back in a straitjacket, and that's the last thing I want! You hear me?"

Surprised by her outburst, they didn't know how to react. How could they? When she said she wasn't going to go back in a straitjacket it made their blood run cold? Thoughts began to come into their heads, depicting her lying in a room with a blank-white padded room, with nothing but a glass partition and her being in the jacket she talked about.

Each of them though couldn't imagine something like her being in that position. She was too tough on the inside to be in something like that. Still…they were worried about her after she had vanished. When she left, Cloudsdale had to appointed somepony else as manager, and they fantastic job but it wasn't the same as Rainbow Dash's commitment; and Applejack's farm suffered on some days because the replacement was sometimes late with brining in a new rainstorm and her profits were slowly dwindling until she had to have something done about it. Applejack couldn't remember how much of a depression she was in because of her low sales.

In fact, all of them were hurting in their own way because of her their friend's absence. All of Equestria was.

As Twilight watched her go, she was determined to understand what she was hiding.

* * *

Twilight and rest of her friends all met in the library, and all of them were talking about Rainbow Dash, more especially how much she had changed in her short stay (to them) in that other dimension. The lavender unicorn told them how time between dimensions was different; of course, this didn't make sense to either of them so she had to simplify it for them. Applejack brought up another subject, albeit painful, about how she was like a wild animal and lashed out at them and Princess, screaming something that they didn't understand. At first Twilight said that they should try again by asking her what was wrong, until Fluttershy spoke up. "Maybe we should just leave her alone for a while."

"I agree with Fluttershy," Rarity said. "Whatever happened to Rainbow Dash must've been horrendous to her and being back home isn't helping her."

"What about if we try and throw her a party?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"What good would that do?" Applejack said, "I agree with what Rarity said and we should give the girl some space, but once she cools off then she can ask her what's wrong."

"But I don't want her to keep it bottled up forever," Twilight said, "it's won't be good for her. Besides, it'll remind me of the way I was before I met you guys."

"Twi," Applejack said, "you got enough on your plate being Princess of Equestria. I think you should just let us handle Dash for a while. We'll let know how it goes."

Twilight sighed and watched as he friends all left her home and she closed the door. Visions of Rainbow Dash in the suit she was wearing flashed through her mind. "I've got to know where she got that from," she said to herself.

"Are you sure you don't want me to look inside Rainbow Dash and find out what the problem is?" Princess Luna asked her elder sister.

"When the time comes, we will have to probe her mind. But for now, I would like to let her be alone. Maybe being back in Equestria will calm her down."

"And if it doesn't?" Luna said.

"Then my only option is to banish her from Equestria, she will be a danger to everypony including us, sister."

"Are you sure that's wise? To me, that seems a little harsh."

"If it must be, it must be done. I'm not going to let my subjects be harmed by one of my own, even _if_ they are an Element of Harmony."

Luna didn't say anything, she just wondered if her sister was true to her word about banishing Rainbow Dash. If she did that then what would happen to her Element of Harmony, Loyalty? Who would be the one to bear it if she was gone? _Tia, are you really going to resort to that if things get out of control?_ Luna thought as she went up to her room, closing the door behind her.

Rainbow Dash flew up to the doorstep of her cloud manner and walked inside; seeing how everything was the way it was before she left; only it was changed slightly from the time she left. Hopefully, Tank would be okay; he trusted Fluttershy to look after him which she knew she could count on. "Tank?" she called out. "Tank? You here?"

A whirl of a motor was heard as she saw the tortoise come into view. At the moment of seeing her master, her face spread into a slow-moving grin as he flew up to her and she nuzzled her cheek against his. When she left, it broke his heart to know that he wasn't able to see his master anymore, and, even though he had Fluttershy to take care of him, it wasn't the same as he still missed his original owner. Seeing her now after so much time passing he looked over and gestured at her stance as well as her suit and two guns. She laughed at this. "I know, it's strange, but I'm used to it."

Going up to her room she laid on her bed. She started to tremble. Then she started to cry and bring her hind legs up in a fetal position. Rainbow had thought a while back about hoping Mark and Carver and Earth were all going to be okay, but she knew the truth—they were gone. The Brethren Moons made it to Earth first and they were gone. She was lucky, though, because she was transported off that ship before it crashed into one of the Moons. She was grateful for her friends and the Princess's help…but what now? Mark was gone, so were Carver and Earth. Everybody always died around her like she was a bad omen.

Why did she have to lose Mark? He was the one person who filled in the emptiness that left by Allen's death on the Ishimura. Mark was everything to her, and if he was gone along with Earth, what then?

She paced around her cloud home with worry; she wanted to go to Twilight's and make her use that spell again to send her back to where she was so that she could be back with Mark and everybody else that died to the Brethren Moons. She stopped and started to laugh—she was beginning to sound like that idiot Danik and Doctor Challus Mercer. "I'm not one of those religious fanatics…" she said to herself.

She continued to lay there, eyes staring up at the ceiling…

Then she saw them. The symbols…

"Get out of my head…" she muttered to herself as she turned over, burying her face into her pillow. But even with her head covered the symbols still appeared.

Rainbow Dash knew that sleep would not do any good—because it would make things worse—but she had no other choice since she hasn't sleep in a good while; she could feel herself shutting down, her eye lids starting to get heavy. Slowly…slowly…slowly… her eyes started to close and she found herself going to sleep, hoping that her pet would come and snuggle next to her.

* * *

_[Well, that does it for this chapter of the story. Though I don't know if this is going to work or not—this is just an experiment; I want this story to be a romance story mixed into Dead Space. Another thing is I don't know how I could continue on with this since, first off: how to bring the Brethren Moons to Equestria (as well as the Necromorphs). And, if you're wondering about the ponies I want to be with Rainbow Dash, here's the list:_

**Vinyl **

**Trixie**

**Twilight**

**Applejack**

**Spitfire**

**Lightening Dust**

_That's all I have so far. If you want me to continue the story, and if you like it, let me know. This story is probably going to be on hiatus for a while until I figure out what to do. Also, this story was inspired by Wrabbit75's story _**The Teacher, the Sorceress, and the Wonderbolt**_ (as well as his sequels). I hope he likes this, just as much as you do.]_


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